“And may Taur Urgas grow boils on his behind,” Yarblek added. He drank deeply, scooped another cupful of ale from the open keg and drank again. “I’m a little drunk,” he admitted.
“We’d never have guessed,” Aunt Pol told him.
“I like you, girl.” Yarblek grinned at her. “I wish I could afford to buy you. I don’t suppose you’d consider running away?”
She sighed a mocking little sigh. “No,” she refused. “I’m afraid not. That gives a woman a bad reputation, you know.”
“Very true,” Yarblek agreed owlishly. He shook his head sadly. “As I was saying,” he went on, “I’m a little drunk. I probably shouldn’t say anything about this, but it’s not a good time for westerners to be in Cthol Murgos – Alorns particularly. I’ve been hearing some strange things lately. Word’s been filtering out of Rak Cthol that Murgoland is to be purged of outsiders. Taur Urgas wears the crown and plays king in Rak Goska, but the old Grolim at Rak Cthol has his hand around Taur Urgas’ heart. The king of the Murgos knows that one squeeze from Ctuchik will leave his throne empty.”
“We met a Tolnedran a few leagues west of here who said the same sort of thing,” Silk said seriously. “He told us that merchants from the West were being arrested all over Rak Goska on false charges.”
Yarblek nodded. “That’s only the first step. Murgos are always predictable – they have so little imagination. Taur Urgas isn’t quite ready to offend Ran Borune openly by butchering every western merchant in the kingdom, but it’s getting closer. Rak Goska’s probably a closed city by now. Taur Urgas is free to turn his attention to the outlands. I’d imagine that’s why he’s coming here.”
“He’s what?” Silk’s face paled visibly.
“I thought you knew,” Yarblek told him. “Taur Urgas is marching toward the frontier with his army behind him. My guess is that he plans to close the border.”
“How far away is he?” Silk demanded.
“I was told that he was seen this morning not five leagues from here,” Yarblek said. “What’s wrong?”
“Taur Urgas and I have had some serious fallings out,” Silk answered quickly, his face filled with consternation. “I can’t be here when he arrives.” He jumped to his feet.
“Where are you going?” Belgarath asked quickly.
“Some place safe. I’ll catch up with you later.” He turned then and bolted out of the tent. A moment later they heard the pounding of his horse’s hooves.
“Do you want me to go with him?” Barak asked Belgarath.
“You’d never catch him.”
“I wonder what he did to Taur Urgas,” Yarblek mused. He chuckled then. “It must have been something pretty awful, the way the little thief ran out of here.”
“Is it safe for him to go away from the caravan track?” Garion asked, remembering the vultures at their grisly feast beside the trail.
“Don’t worry about Silk,” Yarblek replied confidently.
From a great distance away, a slow thudding sound began to intrude itself. Yarblek’s eyes narrowed with hate. “It looks like Silk left just in time,” he growled.
The thudding became louder and turned into a hollow, booming sound. Dimly, behind the booming, they could hear a kind of groaning chant of hundreds of voices in a deep, minor key.
“What’s that?” Durnik asked.
“Taur Urgas,” Yarblek answered and spat. “That’s the war song of the king of the Murgos.”
“War?” Mandorallen demanded sharply.
“Taur Urgas is always at war,” Yarblek replied with heavy contempt.
“Even when there isn’t anybody to be at war with. He sleeps in his armor, even in his own palace. It makes him smelly, but all Murgos stink anyway, so it doesn’t really make any difference. Maybe I’d better go see what he’s up to.” He got heavily to his feet. “Wait here,” he told them. “This is a Nadrak tent, and there are certain courtesies expected between Angaraks. His soldiers won’t come in here, so you’ll be safe as long as you stay inside.” He lurched toward the door of the tent, an expression of icy hatred on his face.
The chanting and the measured drumbeats grew louder. Shrill fifes picked up a discordant, almost jigging accompaniment, and then there was a sudden blaring of deep-throated horns.
“What do you think, Belgarath?” Barak rumbled. “This Yarblek seems like a good enough fellow, but he’s still an Angarak. One word from him, and we’ll have a hundred Murgos in here with us.”
“He’s right, father,” Aunt Pol agreed. “I know Nadraks well enough to know that Yarblek wasn’t nearly as drunk as he pretended to be.”
Belgarath pursed his lips. “Maybe it isn’t too good an idea to gamble all that much on the fact that Nadraks despise Murgos,” he conceded. “We might be doing Yarblek an injustice, but perhaps it would be better just to slip away before Taur Urgas has time to put guards around the whole place anyway. There’s no way of knowing how long he’s going to stay here; and once he settles in, we might have trouble leaving.”
Durnik pulled aside the red carpeting that hung along the back wall, reached down, and tugged out several tent pegs. He lifted the canvas. “I think we can crawl out here.”
“Let’s go, then,” Belgarath decided.
One by one, they rolled out of the tent into the chill wind.
“Get the horses,” Belgarath said quietly. He looked around, his eyes narrowing. “That gully over there.” He pointed at a wash opening out just beyond the last row of tents. “If we keep the tents between us and the main caravan track, we should be able to get into it without being seen. Most likely everybody here’s going to be watching the arrival of Taur Urgas.”
“Would the Murgo king know thee, Belgarath?” Mandorallen asked.
“He might. We’ve never met, but my description’s been noised about in Cthol Murgos for a long time now. It’s best not to take any chances.”
They led their horses along the back of the tents and gained the cover of the gully without incident.
“This wash comes down off the back side of that hill there.” Barak pointed. “If we follow it, we’ll be out of sight all the way, and once we get the hill between us and the camp, we’ll be able to ride away without being seen.”
“It’s almost evening.” Belgarath looked up at the lowering sky. “Let’s go up a ways and then wait until after dark.”
They moved on up the gully until they were behind the shoulder of the hill.
“Better keep an eye on things,” Belgarath said.
Barak and Garion scrambled up out of the gully and moved at a crouch to the top of the hill, where they lay down behind a scrubby bush. “Here they come,” Barak muttered.
A steady stream of grim-faced Murgo soldiers marched eight abreast into the makeshift fair to the cadenced beat of great drums. In their midst, astride a black horse and under a flapping black banner, rode Taur Urgas. He was a tall man with heavy, sloping shoulders and an angular, merciless face. The thick links of his mail shirt had been dipped in molten red gold, making it almost appear as if he were covered with blood. A thick metal belt encircled his waist, and the scabbard of the sword he wore on his left hip was jewel-encrusted. A pointed steel helmet sat low over his black eyebrows, and the blood-red crown of Cthol Murgos was riveted to it. A kind of chain-mail hood covered the back and sides of the king’s neck and spread out over his shoulders.
When he reached the open area directly in front of the square stone supply post, Taur Urgas reined in his horse. “Wine!” he commanded. His voice, carried by the icy wind, seemed startlingly close. Garion squirmed a bit lower under the bush.
The Murgo who ran the supply post scurried inside and came back out, carrying a flagon and a metal goblet. Taur Urgas took the goblet, drank, and then slowly closed his big fist around it, crushing it in his grip. Barak snorted with contempt.
“What was that about?” Garion whispered.
“Nobody drinks from a cup once Taur Urgas has used it,” the redbearded Cherek replied. “If Anheg behaved like that, his warriors would dunk him in the bay at Val Alorn.”
“Have you the names of all foreigners here?” the king demanded of the Murgo storekeeper, his wind-carried voice distinct in Garion’s ears. “As you commanded, dread king,” the storekeeper replied with an obsequious bow. He drew a roll of parchment out of one sleeve and handed it up to his ruler.
Taur Urgas unrolled the parchment and glanced at it. “Summon the Nadrak, Yarblek,” he ordered.
“Let Yarblek of Gar og Nadrak approach,” an officer at the king’s side bellowed.
Yarblek, his felt overcoat flapping stiffly in the wind, stepped forward. “Our cousin from the north,” Taur Urgas greeted him coldly.